Turks: Human or not?
by Moiranne Rose
Summary: Turks. Everyone says they're not human. Except everyone's favourite redhead, but what if disaster strikes? It's time for the group to think just how much they need him. It's only TsengReno if you squint, all in good taste of course: enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Tseng was not a happy man

Tseng was not a happy man. Not by any extreme. He lived his life between the desk at work, and the desk in his quarters. And of course the coffee room which was right in between the two places. He lived his life for ShinRa, a hopelessly complex and somewhat corrupt company which dealt in electrical needs of Midgar and assassinations. He lived with his colleagues, an elite squad of four very talented, very wanted Turks, and a vice-president who acted like a spoiled four-year-old boy.

Sure, his job paid him a lot, gave him opportunities to work in an area he excelled in, it made him respected, albeit feared, but that somehow, wasn't enough. It was enough to keep him going back to the job everyday, acting like some winded-up robot with his eyes permanently glued to his watch. Enough to make him kill people with a shot through the head just to eliminate 'threats' ShinRa faced. Enough even, it seemed, to trade his humanity for a black suit, a gun, and a license to kill. But it was not enough, to make him happy with what he was doing.

He had joined up when he was young, wanting those same somewhat foolish ideals of all young recruits. To make Midgar a better, safer place, to make things turn out better, to achieve world peace. He scoffed at the idea now, hardly believing he had been naïve enough to think that world peace could be gotten by throwing yourself into a poker game, where the players were corrupt officials, the stakes were the lives and wellbeing of the people and the cards were the people to be killed next. He hadn't achieved anything, he had made it all worst.

Though, he had achieved some sort of lifeline to humanity. Though he could probably never salvage the shards of his own, he had a bridge to it. Through his colleagues. He wouldn't go so far to say they were his friends. He had long stopped believing in friendship. He had known for long that anyone and everyone was disposable. Even himself. Even his friends. So he no longer tied himself to anyone, to somehow curb any guilt that would arise if one day he was ordered to kill any one of them. They were his colleagues. This was his job.

--

Reno followed another drop of rain as it glided down the window pane. He was happy with himself. He had lost weight. Not more than he expected but he had lost enough to keep him slim and fast. Not that he told anyone he was trying to. He never told them that his secret to his stealthy actions and catlike grace was all in his lower than average weight. It was not like he didn't eat with Rude, Elena and Tseng, but none of them knew or even suspected what happened at night in the toilet, which involved him regurgitating it all into the loo.

He had long been a slave to his image. He used to skip school, back when he was still in one, just because his hair was not cooperating. He'd go to extraordinary lengths just to make sure his hair fell where he wanted it, and when he wanted it. His pride lay in his mass of red hair and his long, lanky frame. Listening to the bells of the church in the slums toll eight, he got up from his crouch next to the window. He pulled on his suit, smoothing it down and pulled his hair immaculately into his signature ponytail.

He looked into the mirror, critically looking over his proud, high cheekbones, which were adorned with the red kanji lines which snaked around it, and appearance as a whole. No one would believe he pressed his own suits, or even looked into the mirror to check himself. But then again, he didn't tell anyone that much anyway.  
--

Tseng brushed out of his room, talking into his phone and mind whirring with the day's work and plans. He had to go for a mission in the morning, to interrogate a hostage they had seized from the remaining Wutai rebel group. Then it was lunch with the normal Turk squad and then a joint training mission courtesy of the simulation room. They constantly had trainings since they needed to keep themselves ready for the impending war that was almost upon them. He flicked his phone closed and opened his office door. Elena was already there, along with Rude. Reno dashed in, red hair flying in a mane behind him, swooping past Tseng and sat down next to Rude at his desk. He grinned at his superior, his mouth stretching over pale skin from a sleepless night. He hadn't had a good night's sleep either. But hey, none of them did. If there was a reason why they were all so alert, it had something to do with the mako and the caffeine intake they all chocked up.

He'd done all the paperwork due today last week and he settled down to pick up his paperwork on the rebel group and what he planned to wring out of the man they'd captured. He skimmed through the file again for refreshment and then he grabbed a cup of coffee to boost himself for the rest of the day. He looked at his colleagues. Elena, who was scribbling something into a notepad while she talked on the phone. Rude, who was currently trying to finish a report and keep Reno from dropping some unknown substance into his drink. And Reno? Well, he was just being Reno. If he, Tseng, was the head of the Turks, Rude was the strength, Elena was the heart, then Reno was most definitely the soul. He had this innate ability to make you want to talk, to laugh, to act completely out of character, something to be liked and to be hated.

One day, he thought, he might need to find a way to make sure Reno didn't get out of his seat for the whole morning, then they had a chance of peace and quiet.

--

Reno had dashed in just before his boss had, flashing his signature grin at him. He had to act like the clown. It was like a mask he wore, a part he played. Sure, he could just be like the other three, cold, icy and infinitesimally collected, but someone had to make an effort. So he had taken it upon himself, to make sure they all stayed human, regardless of the mako in them, which made threatened to make them otherwise.

He felt a slight fainting spell, which threatened to make him slump onto his report he was trying so hard to write well. But he brushed it off, it would never do if any of them knew what he did. They'd either report him, or laugh at him, and he couldn't decide which was worse. He was determined to keep up the front that he had tirelessly kept up for the last 5 years he had worked with them. He hadn't eaten breakfast, but he convinced himself that it wasn't needed, after all, he needed to lose a bit more weight, just a little, so his BMI hit 18. Just 18 he told himself. Then he'd start eating again.

He bent over his work and continued to work. The only sound in the room was that of scratching pens on paper. He felt the rhythms that they made. He'd always heard it. They didn't know it, but he did that. He actually observe them more then they knew. He was a lot of things they didn't know of. They didn't know what he did when he went drinking, or what he did at night when he couldn't sleep. None of them knew that he went to his parents' grave every time he told them he was 'gonna get himself laid'. Or that he went to the training room at the dead of night when they thought he was sleeping soundly. He was somewhat surprised that they didn't expect anything like that from him. Did they seriously think he was as shallow as he let on?

He credited it to his fantastic acting skills.

--

Tseng arrived back to the office after his interrogation to eat. Rude had gotten some takeaway food like always. He nodded a greeting to them as he sat down. Though something felt different. There was something missing, too quiet the room was. He knew it. Reno was missing.

"Where's Reno?" He inquired.

"Oh, Reno? He isn't eating today. He said he needed to have a walk. Said he ate too much for breakfast or something." Elena answered, while wolfing down bites of her sandwich.

"Oh sure then." He nodded, though not quite convinced. He knew Reno never skipped meals. He unwrapped his own sandwich as he pondered on where Reno could be. While he didn't call them his friends, he felt sometimes like he needed to know where they were anytime, for the sake of being on red alert at all times. Not knowing where Reno was disturbed him. He had never not known where any of them were, least of all Reno. Maybe it was because he felt like he couldn't trust Reno on his own, or was it he felt that Reno, of all people, was so predictable that he couldn't think that he would ever go for a walk. Reno never walked. But then again, even Reno had to adhere to training times. He would ask him then.

--

Reno walked down the beaten, worn road. He turned into the familiar clearing in the shadow of the tall oak he remembered climbing in his youth. He sat down next to the marble headstone, tracing the words on the gravestone. Rendall and Nomanda. They were buried together. He had always come here. Just to trace their names, remember he was not without history, a past. He could still remember that night. So long ago. Yet not long at all. He had been 17, now he was 25. 8 years. Almost a lifetime, considering what had happened.

_The knocking on the door was normal enough, his father had gone to the door, left them laughing at some television show. Then it was like all hell had broken lose. There were gunshots everywhere. They rang in his head as he screamed. The redness of blood that seeped through the couch. His father and mother both lying in their own blood. So crimson. The laughter that had surrounded had been cut off and only the smell of death and blood was his last impression of his home, as dark masked intruders carried him away..._

That was the day he had joined ShinRa. He later knew that his parents were approached by a ShinRa official, to ask if they could recruit him as a Turk. They had flatly rejected the offer, having not wanted their son to endure the torture and shame Turks bore. They had sealed their own death warrant. What ShinRa wanted, ShinRa got. And he was taken away. To become what he was today. A monster. He held his head in his hands. What was he? Some killing machine programmed to cut down any and all persons who stood in ShinRa's way. He used to be a son, of parents who loved him for who he was. Now? He had been degraded into a monster, a lapdog of ShinRa.

His phone buzzed. He almost chucked it onto the ground and stomped on it in rage. He hated ShinRa, how dare they kill people just because they held something they coveted? He resented himself. He had caused his father and mother to die. He looked at the caller ID. Tseng. He had to get back. It was training session. He reluctantly stood, and kissed the cold marble, before walking out of that small haven, away from his happy past, into his dark reality.

--

Tseng drew his gun. The shot rang out, hitting his target while he ducked to allow Elena to leap over him and tackle another monster, taking it out immediately. They worked as a team, seamlessly killing all the programmed hundred monsters methodically. Reno stunning them first, allowing the other three to pass him and take them out before repeating the process until all of them were out. They had done this technique many times, almost always effective, this was their first and most successful action plan when it came to defeat larger groups, be it human or otherwise. As Turks were, they were cold and heartless. Killing? Pah, just elimination for the greater good, just a job. He was so numb to the guilt that comes with killing that he almost didn't feel anything when the next monster fell next to the first. They were simulations, things that weren't even there. Why should he feel sorry?

Their routine had gone like clockwork. Everything going according to plan. It was nearly time for dinner and then the day was done. But today was different. Reno had just stunned the last few monsters, whisking his Electro-Mag Rod in an elaborate circle, when his feet buckled underneath him. Tseng had shot the last one through its metal head before he had even noticed. Rude and Elena had already rushed to his aid. Reno had fainted. Out like a light.

"Reno? Reno! RENO!" Rude thundered as Elena rushed to switch off the simulation. Reno turned his head slightly but he was too exhausted to do much more than that.

"Oh damn." Rude swore. "Let's get this bugger to the med centre." Even though Rude referred to Reno in a variety of colourful swear words and insults, he was very fond of his coworker. As his best friend, stuck with him for most missions, Rude and Reno knew each other almost as well as they knew themselves. Tseng was too 'high above' and 'caught up in his work' to be fond of anyone. Elena was just too new to them all. They were about the closest friends in the whole Turk contingent, knowing each other's thoughts and moods before they even said a word.

Rude lifted Reno effortlessly, cradling him as he dashed towards the lift. Elena followed immediately after, with Tseng behind her, in hot pursuit.

--

Reno had felt the wave of nausea wash over him. He felt light-headed and knew immediately that one of his fainting spells was here. But this one seemed more violent. Please, please, he wished he wouldn't faint in front of his friends. Too many questions would be asked, too many answers needed, he couldn't lose the image of himself he had built for 8 years. But the he slowly felt the energy draining from him. He mustered up the last bit of energy to bring down the last few monsters before his legs gave way. His head hit the ground but he was too weak to do anything about it. He sighed and let himself be sucked into oblivion.

He woke up after a while. With an ache in his head where it had struck the floor and at least 3 drips in his left arm. He groggily looked around. To see Elena dozing off, Rude staring at him through his shades and Tseng looking out of the window. Oh boy, he had a lot of explaining to do.

"Reno!" Rude's exhilarated, albeit angry voice woke Elena and caused Tseng to look over immediately. But then again, he could have whispered it and they wold have still done what they'd done, mako made them sensitive to noises.

Reno weakly smiled. "Missed me?"

Rude immediately burst into a tirade of anger and stress-induced swearing as he ranted, which was extremely out of character, at Reno. Listening, Reno's heart sank. The doctors had told them that he had fainted due to lack of nourishment. And that he was suspected of being bulimic as he obviously was not retaining the food he ate in his digestive system. Reno smiled sadly. What they didn't know. If he wasn't so weak, he would have laughed, did they honestly think that he was so stupid as to _let _them find him out? That Turks knew everything? He would have laughed, but he couldn't muster up the energy.

He allowed his eyes to wander. To Elena, whose eyes were filled with passionate anger tinged with sadness and pity. To Tseng, whose almost unfathomable look, was customary to his face. Yet Reno could almost see some minute piece of emotion in it. Then back to Rude, who had finished his ranting and had gone back to leaning against the wall. Well, he thought, if these were his friends, is only friends, life had sure brought him a long way. A very long way. He sighed and allowed sleep to overtake him once more.

--

Tseng looked at his slumbering group. Elena was asleep in her chair, with Rude dozing off while standing. And Reno. Reno. He had been so worried, almost as if he had had thata human emotion. He had never expected Reno to have an eating disorder, or that he was capable of even inflicting self harm on himself. Today's discoveries weren't pleasant. Normally Reno would have made some lame joke and everyone would have rolled their eyes and gotten back into their normal selves. But since he was the subject at hand, there was no way they'd get over this easily. There was simply no way now.

Reno. Reno. He felt a queer lurch in his stomach. He felt the pangs of almost helplessness clawing at him. He hadn't felt it in so long, it felt foreign. Almost too human for him. Yet he was human. He was not immortal, Reno had proved that. Neither was he a monster, Reno had also shown them that. How putting aside your problems was what Turks could do, even when they were so full of caffeine and mako that it seemed impossible. He knew then. He needed Reno. They all needed him. He reminded them that they had a chance at being something that was not black suits and bloodshed. He gave them hope that they could be human, if they wanted it.

Tseng stared out of the window. How were they going to pick up the shards of this?

A/N: this is a two shot, hopefully at least. That's the ideal. As said in the blurb, it's Tseng/Reno if you squint and look really hard. but i tried to keep it in character. i thought of this when i saw Reno for the first time. I said something along the lines of "oh darn, that guy's thinner than me!" and im pretty thin. 40 kg...well so i thought, he has to be anorexic or something. so i wrote this, not only for Reno to have a reason to be so thin, but also to show the rest that you know what, you really need that guy so much, you don't even know how much.

I'm currently lying low, just in case they are thinking of coming after me for doing that. But it's okay for now...wait is that banging on the door I hear?

yeah, well hope you liked it. just a look at how Reno feels like playing the clown and how Tseng feels playing the boss

Moiranne Rose


	2. Chapter 2

_ You're not alone  
Together we stand  
I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand  
When it gets cold  
And it feels like the end  
There's no place to go  
You know I won't give in  
No I won't give in  
_

It had been five weeks. Five weeks since Reno fainted. Five weeks since the team nearly lost Reno. Five weeks since Reno lost his smile.

It wasn't that he became full of angst, or that he had become depressed or anything. It was just that, his playing the clown just seemed fake and stupid. He used to think of it as a part. Something he could slip in and out of. But now, after the team realized his darker side, he just gave up on everything. His work, his friends, even now, he had started eating just to pass time.

Tseng had put Rude in charge of watch Reno day and night. He couldn't even head to the toilet without Rude waking up and following him. His life had turned from being a monstrous killer machine to being a monstrous killer machine stuck in a cage. He didn't have freedom to go out. Or to watch the stars. Or to see his parents' graves. He felt trapped in a limbo state he couldn't be rid of. He stared longingly out of the window. Even Rufus had put hi out of cobat training as he recovered. He wanted to stab something. Anything. He felt his anger and rage bottling up in him. How dare they? Try to coop him up, did they honestly think he couldn't take care of himself? That he was a danger to himself? At least, he thought, let e be judge on that.

He looked out of the window. His fingers traced aimless patterns on the frost that had formed over the cold night. He couldn't sleep. But then again, he never could. He wanted to be free, to be able to see the sky, with its whole expanse before him. Not just this 4 by 4 window frame's worth of it. He wanted to see the stars, which were shielded by the towering concrete buildings which were characteristic of Midgar. He banged his fist on the wall. ShinRa had taken everything from him. His family, his friends, even his work, which he had come to enjoy. Why? Did they find some sort of sadistic pleasure letting people crumble under their iron fists? He was like a disposable pawn, of no use, with no one to remember him when he was gone. He knew that Turks were cremated after their deaths, to make sure no trace of any Turk was ever found. The path they walked was a secret. No one would ever know of a Reno again.

But he had to hold on, to whatever was left of his fragile humanity. He had to keep fighting the mako, which made him feel icy hatred and gave him the maniacal urge to kill. Yet, it was so hard to. No one was with him, fighting for it with him. Even Rude had resigned himself to his anonymous fate.

_Keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through  
Just stay strong  
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you  
There's nothing you could say  
Nothing you could do  
There's no other way when it comes to the truth  
So keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through  
_

Tseng stared out of his window. He was working late again, but his body clock had long been suppressed by copious quantities of caffeine that he was not bothered by it. He had to finish this report on the mission Rufus had sent him on just this afternoon. It had been to eliminate the leader, Kandaskan, who was threatening to build another opposing electric power company. This was a threat ShinRa could not allow. Even he hadn't wasted more than a single bullet to finish the man off. These people weren't worth more than one anyway. He wrote the last paragraph before standing and walking to the window. He could see the quarters of the Turks just across from him, and his mako eyes made out a figure, slumped next to the window, looking up at the sky. Reno.

Tseng had put a lot of thought in about Reno. After the incident, which he had reported to Rufus, Reno had been put out of combat training until he had been deemed healthy again. In the mean time, Rude was now training a new a Turk that had just come out of basic training, a mandatory period of 2 years, where SOLDIER and Turk recruits were trained on basic skills like stealth and weapon usage. His reports had deemed him ready to be accepted as a trainee Turk, so he had joined up with the group just for exposure and further teaching. He was hoping to get a personalized weapon at the end of the year when he decided whether he wanted to join up as an elite or as a normal Turk.

Tseng remembered how they had gotten Reno. He had been 20 at the time, 2 years out of training camp, under the wing of Verdot, but fast becoming a favourite to be the next head. Verdot had talent-spotted Reno after observing him for a period of two weeks. They had found Reno to be perfect. Catlike grace mixed with lightning speed. He also had phenomenal aim, but he was also skilled in martial arts. A perfect Turk. But for the things that were too perfect to be true, it came at a price. The price was Reno's parents' lives. They had refused, the fools. If they knew what prestige lay in the job of becoming a Turk, they would have let him with open arms. Verdot had ordered one of the other elite Turks to take a group of five to Reno's house in the woods, with the mission to get Reno and kill whoever stood in their way.

Tseng had gone along, he needed exposure, as Verdot had said. He remembered when they bundled Reno into the back of the helicopter. He had been drugged to keep him silent and down so they could make sure they had a successful raid. It had gone like clockwork by Turk standards, but Tseng, who at that time had been more human than he was now, had felt it almost saddening. Now, he knew it was for the greater good. People had to die, so others could live. That was the way it was.

Though he could still remember how Reno looked, frail and thin, starving himself for the sake of his skills. Had ShinRa done that to him? Was there a chance that ShinRa, something he had always taken as the greatest good, actually just took the people they wanted and killed off the rest? Did ShinRa, in some way, make him who he was? A trained killer, a...a...he struggled for the word, a monster?

_So far away  
I wish you were here  
Before it's too late, this could all disappear  
Before the doors close  
And it comes to an end  
With you by my side I will fight and defend  
I'll fight and defend  
Yeah, yeah_

Everything around him, they were disposable. Rude, Elena, Tseng, and hell, even himself. They were just tools for ShinRa, to get what ShinRa wanted them to, to dispose after they had proved to be useless. Had his life been reduced to that?

Reno looked out of the window. He was alone. He wished he was with his family. In another world, another universe, another life, he would be sitting down for dinner with them. Laughing, talking, he could almost see it. But it was like looking through a piece of glass. The things were there to be seen, but try as he mey, he would never break through into it. Everything around him was disappearing, or on the verge of at least. But before that, he wished he just had that little bit more control over his life, just a little more say in it. He would go down fighting for his freedom. Even if, even if, it meant giving up all he had, even his life, anything to get out of this hellhole. But at the moment, all he wanted was to go for a walk. He looked at Rude, who was sound asleep. He moved forward, pausing at each step. Rude didn't make any noise, save turning in his sleep. Reno stifled a laugh before soundlessly opening the door and creeping out. He would have this hour of freedom. If only just this hour.

_Keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through  
Just stay strong  
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you  
There's nothing you could say  
Nothing you could do  
There's no other way when it comes to the truth  
So keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through_

Tseng had long resigned himself to the fate of being a Turk. But after Reno had arrived, and more so when they almost lost him, Tseng had felt more human emotions he had tried so hard to cut out of his life. Maybe it was the effect Reno had on all of them. He was their soul. He was what made them human. Not the machines they had been programmed to be. He was their lifeline to humanity. For all his shortcomings, all his failures, all his playing around, he was a part of their team. Losing him meant losing whatever scraps of humanity they had. It meant that they had finally turned into mechanical lapdogs for ShinRa. Maybe, just maybe, they needed Reno more than they had realised.

He shook his head. He was having those 'human' thoughts again. Rufus would be mad. He needed a walk to clear his head. Just one of his customary ones round the building. Nothing out of the ordinary, anyway, no one dared to question him. He slipped out of his office and made his way down the hallway. He'd be back within the hour, he promised himself. He needed to get back to work._  
_

_Hear me when I say, when I say I believe  
Nothing's gonna change, nothing's gonna change destiny  
Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly  
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah_

Reno walked down the hallway that connected the East wing with the West. His quarters, like the rest of ShinRa, were in the East Wing but there was only one lift in the entire ShinRa which led to the ground floor. And unfortunately, or fortunately, it was in the Office Wing to the West. He moved down the hallway. Nearly there. Nearly. His mouth cracked into a grin, his first in such a long time. But it quickly disappeared. He flicked his head behind him, sensitive to the almost unnoticeable cracking on the red carpeted floor. His eyes narrowed into a stare. Tseng.

"Well, ShinRa must be upping their security system. Looking for me already? I'm not even out of the building." He dryly stated. He was sick and tired of ShinRa and all its rules. Especially rules about not being allowed to come out of the building after hours. Damn, he was so close.

"Reno? What are you doing out of your rooms? I thought I told Rude-"

"Yeah yeah, Reno can't take care of himself. Reno needs other people to tell him what to do. Reno's too stupid to think for himself. I GET IT!!" He was so close to losing it. How dare ShinRa? They take away all the things he loved, forcing him to the brink of sanity, and then coop him up because he's losing his head. What fantastic logic.

"Look here Reno. We are trying to help you. We're trying to-"

"I know! It's all for my own good. I need this. What you guys can't see is, why did I do this? Who forced me into this? Who took away everything I have? Your precious ShinRa, that's who! And you guys pretend you care, but you don't! You pin my actions to my stupidity, my volatile mind. But you don't have a clue! Stop trying to make my decisions for me! Leave me ALONE!" Reno was losing it. But he kept his cool. He could have smirked at Tseng's shocked facial features, but he was far too angry to even think of that. He just turned and walked away, down the corridor, hands in his pocket.

Tseng could just hear his final words. "Kill me if you have to. At least I'll be free then."_  
_

_La da da da  
La da da da  
La da da da da da da da da_

Tseng ran to catch up. Reno, in all his anger, was still moving faster. He cut across the empty streets, through alleyways Tseng didn't even know existed. He caught up with him, just as he turned into that tiny graveyard. Tseng recognised the place.

_"Burn it down! Burn it down!" The order was screamed multiple times. They had brought fuel and lighters for the job. They had to erase all evidence that there even was a family here. The boy had already been stuffed into the back of the helicopter. Tseng was ordered out and a butane torch stuffed into his hand. "Burn it down!" A voice demanded again. He wordlessly followed. The flames flicked bright against the dark night sky, burning all memories, all possible remnants of that family away. Reno was becoming a Turk. A Turk had no family. No past._

Tseng saw the pair of marble headstones. It had probably been erected by Reno himself. They held the names of his parents. And the day of their deaths. As well as a epitaph which was the same for them both. "Lived protecting, Died shielding" He watched as Reno sat next to them, in the hollow of the tree. He had tears running down his face, and Tseng suddenly had an urge to wipe them away. He had to clasp his hands in front of him to prevent himself from doing so. He walked up to Reno and sat down next to him.

"What the hell do you want?" Reno said, hastily wiping his tears away, scared to show weakness in front of his boss.

"Reno, don't you ever feel trapped in ShinRa?" Tseng said, ignoring the hostile look Reno was giving him.

"Hell, yeah. I mean, it does with us what it will, cooping us up in tiny offices doing brain-numbingly boring work and then dispose of us when we reach our expiry date. They sure as hell make me feel trapped. But you? You're so much like the perfect ShinRa commander. You shouldn't feel that way right?" Reno's stereotype of his boss was coming into play.

"True true, but then again, I hide my displeasures with ShinRa well. They believe me to be perfectly fine with whatever they do, and I let them believe what they want to. We all feel it some way or the other."

"Seriously? I thought you'd be locking me up for saying what I said just now. But hey, like my pops always said, people aren't as shallow as you think they are. I guess maybe I must have thought you to be like that."

"No need to apologise. We have just as much to say about you Reno. We misunderstood you. Maybe we had some share in pushing you into bulimia."

"Well, it was more of the loss of my parents. ShinRa killed them so they could get me. I felt like I needed to punish myself. My parents died because I was talented. If I hadn't been born, my parents wouldn't have died at the hands of that bloody ShinRa!"

"Reno, if you weren't born, or hadn't come into ShinRa, we would never have met you. We wouldn't have that fragile link to humanity. You provide for us in some way that we would be lost without. Somehow, we need you, more than what we realised before you fainted."

"Well, losing, or nearly losing someone can make you rethink how much you need them. Just like for my parents. I realised just how much they loved me, even when I dropped out of school, or when I got into all those gang fights. If it weren't for them and copious amounts of bandages, I would have twice as many scars as I have today. Losing something makes you remember it."

Tseng nodded. That made sense. He had lost Reno, for some time at least. They all had. They really understood only then, how much they needed him. How much everyone needed him. Tseng thanked his lucky stars that Reno had survived. He was back on the team. And they'd make it through ShinRa. Or die in the process. That's what Turks did._  
_

_Keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through  
Just stay strong  
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you  
There's nothing you could say  
Nothing you could do  
There's no other way when it comes to the truth  
So keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through_

They had stayed under that tree for more than that hour they had planned. But there was more gentleness than formality between them now. They were more like friends then colleagues. Reno smiled at Tseng, a small gesture between friends. Tseng felt his resolve cracking, the icy walls he'd built up around his heart slowly melt with Reno's warm albeit small smile. Normally, he would have caught himself before he let his guard down. But this time, he jsut thought 'to the heck with it'. Someone had broken through at last. Tseng smiled back, his first in over 10 years.

Reno sure did make people act out of character. Maybe, most of the time, like this time, it was for a greater good much more worth it than ShinRa. Tseng almost laughed at his radical thoughts.

But he blamed that on Reno too._  
_

_Keep holding on  
Keep holding on_

_There's nothing you could say  
Nothing you could do  
There's no other way when it comes to the truth  
So keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through_

* * *

A/N: Hello again, I added in this Song, "Keep Holding On, by Avril Lavigne" because I thought it really fit the story line. And that last line humour was just courtesy of Tseng and a brainwave. Thanks guys.

Well I think that's the end of my writing this short twoshot. But hope you liked it. And tell me how to improve! I have several stories underway in my 'Leaving' Series, based on Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core characters. Basically the ones who left ShinRa. I wrote these just to give another reason to why they left. I think its only fair, since Square Enix somehow tries to make them sound so evil and calculative when they leave. They are:

Our Perspectives, one on Genesis, completed (a oneshot)

What Kind of Human Are You?, one on Sephiroth, in progress (chaptered since he's such a complicated machine/human)

and there might be one for Zack/Cloud, but they're well treated by SquareEnix which mkes the sound like little heroes in this pool of bad guys. sheesh

anyways hope you enjoyed this story nad check out my other ones!

Moiranne Rose


End file.
